Systems and methods facilitating increased capacity in radio frequency (rf) communications

Abstract

Systems and methods employing a Radio Frequency (RF) communication link that transmits three or more RF signals in one direction, with each signal carrying its own data stream. The signals share time, frequency and space resources and define polarities separated by a pre-determined, substantially non-orthogonal angle. A Multi-Polarity Interference Cancellation (MPIC) feature removes the multi-channel interference for each distinct channel.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A Radio Frequency (RF) communication system, comprising:
 a transmit (Tx) system including at least first, second, and third transmission antenna elements configured to output at least first, second, and third wireless RF signals at different predetermined, non-orthogonal polarities respectively, thereby defining at least first, second, and third communication channels; and   a receive (Rx) system including at least first, second, and third receiver antenna elements defining at least first, second, and third matched pairs of antenna elements with the respective at least first, second, and third transmission antenna elements, the transmission and receiver antenna elements of each matched pair aligned with one another and of the same polarity, the at least first, second, and third receiver antenna elements configured to receive the at least first, second, and third wireless RF signals of the at least first, second, and third communication channels.   
     
     
         2 . The RF communication system according to  claim 1 , wherein the Rx system further includes a sub-system having a multi-polarity interference cancellation feature configured to remove multi-channel interference from each of the at least first, second, and third communication channels, the multi-polarity interference cancellation feature utilizing each channel’s polarity as the primary discriminating factor. 
     
     
         3 . The RF communication system according to  claim 2 , wherein each of the Tx and Rx systems further includes an RF tuner operatively coupled to the respective at least first, second, and third transmission and receiver antenna elements. 
     
     
         4 . The RF communication system according to  claim 3 , wherein each RF tuner includes: 
 multiple RF tuners that are phase synchronized across channels using a reference signal;   a multiple channel RF tuner that is phase coherent between channels; or   a combination of phase coherent and phase synchronized tuners.   
     
     
         5 . The RF communication system according to  claim 3 , wherein the sub-system further includes a demodulator and an equalizer. 
     
     
         6 . The RF communication system according to  claim 5 , wherein the sub-system further includes a demultiplexer operatively coupled to an output of the sub-system. 
     
     
         7 . The RF communication system according to  claim 1 , wherein the Tx system further includes: 
 an input configured to receive a plurality of data streams; and   a multiplexer configured to combine the plurality of data streams for transmission through the at least first, second, and third communication channels.   
     
     
         8 . The RF communication system according to  claim 7 , wherein the Tx system further includes a modulator to convert the at least first, second, and third data streams from baseband to intermediate frequency (IF) and an RF tuner configured to up-convert the at least first, second, and third data streams from IF to RF. 
     
     
         9 . The RF communication system according to  claim 1 , wherein the Rx system is configured to receive data streams from user equipment. 
     
     
         10 . The RF communication system according to  claim 1 , wherein the Rx system is configured to receive the at least first, second, and third wireless RF signals from the Tx system to facilitate connectivity with at least one of: a broader network or other network nodes. 
     
     
         11 . A Radio Frequency (RF) communication method, comprising:
 transmitting at least first, second, and third wireless RF signals at different predetermined, non-orthogonal polarities respectively, thereby defining at least first, second, and third communication channels; and   receiving the at least first, second, and third wireless RF signals of the at least first, second, and third communication channels.   
     
     
         12 . The RF communication method according to  claim 11 , further comprising:
 removing multi-channel interference from each of the at least first, second, and third communication channels with respect to the received at least first, second, and third wireless RF signals, respectively.   
     
     
         13 . The RF communication method according to  claim 11 , further comprising, prior to transmitting the at least first, second, and third wireless RF signals, up-converting the at least first, second, and third wireless RF signals to an RF frequency. 
     
     
         14 . The RF communication method according to  claim 13 , further comprising down-converting the received at least first, second, and third wireless RF signals to a baseband frequency. 
     
     
         15 . The RF communication method according to  claim 11 , wherein the transmitting occurs at a transmit (Tx) system and wherein the receiving occurs at a receive (Rx) system. 
     
     
         16 . The RF communication method according to  claim 15 , further comprising:
 receiving, at the Rx system, a plurality of data streams from which the first, second, and third wireless RF signals are generated.   
     
     
         17 . The RF communication method according to  claim 16 , further comprising:
 transmitting, from the Tx system, a plurality of data streams based upon the first, second, and third wireless RF signals.   
     
     
         18 . The RF communication method according to  claim 11 , wherein the transmitting is performed by at least first, second, and third transmitting antenna elements at the Tx system, and wherein the receiving is performed by at least first, second, and third receiver antenna elements at the Rx system. 
     
     
         19 . The RF communication method according to  claim 11 , wherein the at least first, second, and third transmitting antenna elements and the respective at least first, second, and third receiving antenna elements define at least first, second, and third matched pairs of antenna elements, and wherein the antenna elements in each matched pair of antenna elements are aligned with one another and of equal polarity. 
     
     
         20 . The RF communication method according to  claim 11 , wherein the at least first, second, and third wireless RF signals are transmitted simultaneously in time, space, and frequency.